I'd go with light camel colored walls with off white ceiling and wood trim.
I happen to think this is a very pretty spread and sounds like it would be perfect with the headboard you're describing.

No need to apologize for a beautifully crafted bedspread. You should be proud of having had the skills to make it.

Mona

I would do a rag treatment of the neutrals in the sky of the centerpiece. Then I'd stick with as much wood furniture as possible to echo the brown and use the remaining colors as accents -- maybe including a stenciled border of geometrics that echo the flavor of the quilt.

Nice work, BTW!

Yes, it does look very nice! I was thinking a golden/camel type color also.

Mrs DP,

With your rustic log decor that quilt fits right in. But just because you made it doesn't mean you have to use it on your bed forever. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE quilts and it's wonderful DH is so attached as he evidently realizes the time and love you put into it. He may have a hard time understanding WHY you'd want to change it.

I'm not saying it has to disappear. Alternatives could be to use it as a wall hanging, draped over a quilt rack, folded at the end of the bed, or used for a cuddle blanket on the couch, etc.

But for keeping it (and it is a VERY NICE quilt) I agree with a light brown neutral. With the off colors in the picture it's hard to tell if a gold would work. You will know if there are some underlying tones in the fabric that read cool or warm and can go off from those. Do you still have any fabric swatches left that you can take to the paint store with you?

Consider adding some shams/bed skirt in a coordinating color, black or brown or one of the brighter colors from the star?

Congratulations on your marriage and welcome to the world of compromise. I think it is sweet that you are considering DH in your decorating, very wise gal. :-)

Jill

Thank you ALL for the ideas and compliments. This quilt is actually almost 17 years old, we have been married 16 years. I have toyed with the idea of making it into a smaller wall hanging, but then I would still have to think up ways to fit it into the color scheme. I'm regretting now that I didn't use more earthy colors. This is very dark and the gold and red and green and bright blue is quite challenging to try to fit into a decor. At least it is for me! I have never chosen wall colors before and am having a hard time doing it.

I am just now getting down to decorating, up until now I've lived with all-beige walls in a flat primer that was never meant to be the final coat of paint. Also the textured ceiling they put up to make it quick and easy to get done in these pre-fab manufactured houses. I think I'm scraping that down so it's not so pointy and harsh, and repainting the ceiling. I did it in a utility closet and like how it looks.

I do like the camel color idea for walls and beige for ceiling, and just yesterday realized that it is the same color as the satin bedspread I bought to go under this quilt. It also matches the other quilt that I use spring/summer but is in mauve and green and gold.

I don't know if I can carry off both color ways, so that I can keep on changing off quilts with the change of seasons, maybe with green accents and switching out shams and other accent pieces along with the quilts it will work.

I have NEVER in my life decorated before so this is totally new to me. Up until now I have always just made do with what I have, mostly family hand-me-downs and antiques I've bought.

I have started by making a notebook of images and pictures of rooms I like and elements that I like circled. I'm approaching it the way I did when designing my wedding dress! Hope it works.

Mrs. DP

Beautifully crafted, you should be so proud of your talents!

Perhaps you might consider folding the quilt at the end of the bed and then add a coverlet to place on the bed, they can be found inexpensively at TJMaxx etc for around $30. This would allow you to bring your dominate colors into the room

Good luck with your room, you have so much to look forward to!

Here is a link that might be useful: Matelasse Coverlet Idea

I really wouldn't pick a colour scheme from something that you sound a little ambivalent about, whether you made it or not. And I wouldn't let it pick the bed for me either. Maybe you really love it, and that's just not coming through in your question? If so, some good suggestions above.

Anyway, most people who quilt make more than one quilt, and probably switch what's on their own bed from time to time. The quilt doesn't have to match the room.

I have used the colours in a fabric or a wallpaper to drive the colour scheme in a room - drapes, upholstery, what have you, or a rug - you have to start somewhere - but the colours in your quilt were put together in the first place in what may or may not have been the most ideal combination. Let me put it this way, none too delicately: are you going to saddle yourself your entire life with a colour combination you chose one day when you were 20? One that wasn't meant to be a room paint scheme at all? And if you move, are you going to paint your next bedroom these same colours, and the next, and the next? My choices when I was 20, well I'd rather forget most of them, at least move past them.

I would honestly put this quilt away for a while, or drape it over the couch, or put it on a shelf where it shows but doesn't dominate - to be pulled out on cold nights. You may be in one of those traps where your husband thinks he has to value the quilt because you made it, and you don't want to hurt his feelings because he values the quilt. He may not really care. But if I were him I wouldn't dare say anything other than that I love it either. You're the only one who can sanction letting go.

KarinL

Here is a visual of how to display a quilt over a Coverlet. I love the idea and want to do my guestroom like this. You can try it with the satin bedspread you already have. It just might make for a wonderful contrast. If it doesn't work you can at least get an idea of color. Your quilt is beautiful and will be how ever you choose to use it. Keep us posted. Patti

Here is a link that might be useful: idea

I would accordion fold it at the bottom of the bed.

I want to come at this from another direction, since I've been in this situation. Do you Want to use the quilt as the focal point of your MBR? Or are you using it because you have it and feel sentimental about it? If it's the first, that you are trying to work it in, then, perhaps you could even do a very soft green or ivory wall color, so the quilt can stand out. If you are not loving building a whole room around it, then, don't. I have a sentimental quilt that is red & cream and I have thought for many years that I could use it somehow. For now, it is stored. Perhaps it will be a baby gift when I have one of my children's babies to give it to. It has never worked out in my decor, so I simply box it and store it. Yours could be folded on a bench at the foot of your bed, folded along with other pretty textiles in an open armoire in the room, or otherwise seen as an accessory. It's very limiting in color and in design for a whole room. It's also really pretty...........but then, so is my lovely red and cream quilt.

Red

As a quilter, I put myself in this same situation. I think Red is right. If you don't love it, minimize it rather than base everything on it. I still use mine, but it is tri-folded at the end of the bed and I have matelasse coverlet that covers the whole bed. I have made mine work for now, but sometime I will either make another one, or I will buy some pretty bedding; in either case this quilt will get packed up. I am not going to let the quilt hold me hostage.
Diane

Thank you all for the comments!

If I sound ambivalent it's because I have been hauling this out in the fall for 16 years, putting it on the bed, and cringing at my grunjee walls and lack of any coordination of colors in this bedroom, this quilt makes it all very evident that I have no skills as a home decorator! The spring/summer coverlet is much more "my" colors, it fits in with my other things on the walls, but I do like this bright/dark quilt too. I remember spending a very long time selecting all the fabrics and planning the design. I found a picture of a deer in a magazine and enlarged it without the aid of a copy machine, it's all an original creation and I feel like it's a part of me and also of "us" because it was the first Christmas present I gave to my husband, shortly after I gave it to him we got engaged.

I am really scared of trying to paint the room and finding out it's all wrong. I once saw the paint and wallpaper that my sister picked out, thought "wow that is pretty stuff" but when it was actually in the room it was like Laura Ashley threw up all over the walls and I hated it. So I'm worried that is what will happen with this.

Originally, I thought that green on the walls and beige ceiling, with wood flooring (or laminated wood-look floor?) with a headboard covered in leather or made of pine or cedar logs would look good. Maybe a red cover for the small couch or a chair, or other accents.

But, I like the camel color for the walls too. I am afraid of too much brown though, if I do a leather headboard. In that case, the green might be a better choice. Is it OK to use a dark-ish green on the walls when there is a brighter green in the quilt?

Maybe a good thing to do would be to buy a quart of each of two or three colors and paint the walls in there to see how I like the colors.

I stopped at Home Depot today and was underwhelmed with the assistance and the choices of paint colors. I will go to a paint store either tomorrow or Saturday, thinking of going with Ben. Moore paint.

Which brings me to my next decision. The last time I painted, I used a ceramic technology paint in a bathroom. I love the stuff but can't remember the brand I used. It is flat (which I want) and nice to work with.

Mrs DP,

Thanks for clarifying how long you have had the quilt. I thought it was pretty new so didn't want to suggest to change it. While it sounds like you have much emotional attachment to it, it may be holding you back. You may want to consider the suggestions of using it as an accent or elsewhere. When DS was in 3rd grade I made a "up north" quilt and decorated his room as such. He grew out of that but still has the quilt and he is now in his 3rd year of college and it still gets used to wrap up in on the couch.

So far as your concern on paint colors, if you are used to beige any color is going to seem dark. So a dark green may be overwhelming depending on how much light, etc. that you have.

The method I learned of paint color selection is to get as many samples that appeal to you for whatever reason. Then start putting them up to the elements for the room, bedding, wood, floor, etc. You are to do this rather quickly, just yes-no. Start with one element, then take your yes pile to the next element, and the next until you have weeded them out to a few or maybe even "the one". Then if you want to paint some swatches on the wall or on poster board, see how they look at different times of day.

I have also linked to a discussion on picking paint colors that you may find helpful.

Jill

Here is a link that might be useful: Tips and Tips to picking paint colors